Spinning frame apron guides



July 5, 1960 L. M. COTCHETT SPINNING FRAME APRON GUIDES Filed April 15, 1957 United States Patent SPINNING FRAME APRON GUIDES Louis M. Cotchett, Whitman, Mass., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Machinecraft, Inc., Whitman, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Apr. 15, 1957, Ser. No. 652,765

25 Claims. (Cl. 19-131) This invention relates to the apron guides used in apron-drafting types of spinning frames to guide the aprons and hold them tight and in proper relation for delivery of the strand passing between the double aprons to the nip of the succeeding drawing rolls. Though its principles are applicable to apron type spinning frames generally, they are of special advantage in capbar-less frames, particularly when the latter are of the type of my Patent No. 2,865,057, granted Dec. 23, 1958, in which the top drawing rolls are supported, guided and weighted solely by extensible saddle-like members engaging the necks or spacers between the two bosses of each top roll at mid-length thereof.

Prior cradle types of guides for the aprons have conventionally been separate units laboriously fitted around and locked onto the bottom rolls which run the full length of the frame, being made with side-plates which partially surrounded and rested on the necks and journals of the top rolls and encircled the bottom rolls adjacent their bosses and served to guide the aprons in their proper course and to support the bars, termed tensors, at the delivery end of the aprons which held the top and bottom aprons together and stretched them tight. These side-plates made it impossible to piece up new or broken strands or ends by the quick and easy method of entering the strand sidewise between the top and bottom aprons while the rolls continue to turn. These constructions not only made it difficult to get the cradles on and off from the rolls and to replace the aprons, but further enclosed the space between the aprons to an extent which did not exclude lint and fly but did prevent the usual lint-clearing fans or blowers from blowing out the lint that collected within the aprons and on the roll bosses working within the aprons, as well as making it difiicult to clean this lint from within the aprons by manual means when in working position. Thus, fouling of the aprons and roll bosses by lint and fly has been a serious problem in prior cradle structures.

Further, since these prior cradles have been positioned solely by their engagement with continuously rotating surfaces of the rolls, where lubrication is precluded, and frequently engaged the sharp ends of the elevated flutes forming the bosses of the bottom rolls, wear at these points of relative motion soon resulted in a rise or sagging of the nose or delivery ends of the aprons out of proper register with the nip of the succeeding pair of rolls, as well as into chafing contact with the latter, requiring readjustment of the setting of the middle top roll to put the deliveryends back into proper position. The change in the roll setting thus compelled has in certain instances been wrong for the particular staple being worked.

The .prior type cradle affords no provision for tightening the bottom roll apron, to compensate for slackening and sagging of the top or working run thereof away from the coacting bottom run of the top apron. When this happens, control of the fibers being advanced between the aprons is imperfect and results in uneven yarn.

Patented July 5, 1960 Wear of the aprons against the stationary tensors at their delivery ends and about which they reversed their direction of travel has been a leading cause for apron replacement.

Other lesser drawbacks in the conventional cradle type of guides are well known to those familiar with their use.

The present invention has as its aims the provision of a novel and improved apron guide which will obviate these shortcomings of the prior devices, and further the provision of a simple and inexpensive guide particularly adapted for use in capbar-less frames.

To these ends, the invention comprises a device which is a combined guide for both the aprons and the top roll within the aprons, and which is mounted, supported, and positioned wholly by non-rotating or operatively fixed parts of the spinning frames, without reliance on contact with the rolls or any relatively moving part for these purposes. Thus, in the embodiment illustrated herein, the guide is fixed on the spacer sleeve or saddle-engaging member of the top apron roll, which sleeve alone maintains the guide and its top roll in working position. The guides thus become an integral part of the middle top roll. This sleeve is operatively fixed to its saddle or equivalent Weighting, guiding, and positioning element with capacity for angular adjustment of the sleeve about its axis and the coincidental axis of the middle top roll, to bring the delivery ends of the aprons carried by the apron and roll guide and surrounding the bosses of this roll into proper register with the nip of the succeeding pair of rolls.

Novel apron guiding and tensioning members of skeleton form are provided on the device, which leave each apron open at each of its sides, giving practically complete access for air currents and for manual cleaning of the inward surfaces of the aprons and the bosses around which they travel, without disturbing the aprons on the guide.

The novel device alone permits the tightening of the bottom apron to any degree desired or needed to keep its top or working run flat and parallel with the coacting run of the top apron and free from all sagging. Thus complete control of the fibers being drawn is maintained from the nip of the middle rolls clear to the nose or delivery ends of the aprons.

Further, the open-sided construction makes it possible to remove and replace the top aprons by merely slipping them off and on sidewise following simply the unweighting of the top apron roll. By raising the saddle or equivalent element when thus unweighted, the bottom roll aprons are slackened and may he slid off from their guiding and teusioning members, letting the whole device with the top roll, top aprons and saddle element be lifted off as a unit.

Rollers on the guides around which the aprons reverse their direction of travel lengthen the apron life by sparing them from reeving around stationary surfaces here.

Additional objects of the invention and the manner of their attainment are as set forth hereinafter.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the novel apron and roll guide with middle top roll and aprons thereon, mounted on the guiding, weighting, and positioning element.

Fig. 2 is a. side elevation showing the middle and front bottom rolls in section, the middle andfront top rolls, and the novel device with aprons thereon.

Fig. 3 is anelevation in vertical section through the median longitudinal line of the guiding, weighting and positioning element of Fig. 1, with the front rolls also shown.

The apron guide of the invention is shown in conjunction with the guiding, weighting and positioning means 1 of my Patent No. 2,865,057, above. This comprises two sheet metal portions. 3, 5, of matching and inverted U-shape, overlapped in telescoping relation for length adjustment in varying the roll settings, and fixed together in adjusted relation by a screw 7. The rear part 5 has a yoke 9 of inverted U-shape affixed thereto in telescoping relation by a screw 11 put through a slot therein and into part 5, also for adjustment of the setting of the back top roll, the neck of which is received in semi-circular notches 13 in the flanges of the part 5. Yoke 9 has slots 15 in its depending flanges which receive an auxiliary back-bar (not shown) mounted above and parallel to the regular back-bar which is fixed on the roll stands of the frame behind the back rolls, so that the member 1 is held in operatively fixed relation, all as set forth in my patent aforesaid.

The forepart 3 of the guiding, weighting, and positioning member 1, hereinafter called the saddle member for brevity, has two semi-circular notches 17 formed precisely opposite each other in the depending flanges of part 3, to receive and fit accurately upon the mid-portion of a. sleeve or saddle support 19 held from rotation by the saddle member and serving as a bearing in which the shaft 21 of the middle top roll rotates freely. The bosses 23, preferably knurled, are screwed tightly onto the reduced and threaded end portions of shaft 21, so that they and the shaft turn as a unit.

The elements forming the apron guides proper comprise two parts 25 of hook shape, preferably punched from heavy sheet metal, having rearward portions or hubs 26 which fit closely upon the sleeve 19 and are fixed thereon, closely adjacent the respective bosses 23, as by welding, brazing or silver-soldering, in accurately aligned relation to each other. In each part 25 are fixed two apronguiding and tensioning members 27, 29, made of heavy wire of generally U-shape with their legs secured in holes in part 25 by silver solder, staking, press-fitting or other suitable means. The legs of the U extend in parallel relation to each other and to the top rolls axis, and the curved outer end of each guide member 27, 29 is bent at roughly right angles to the common plane of its legs. The top apron 31 which encircles the top roll is looped around the member 27, being guided and held down into contact with bottom apron 33 by the lower leg or tensor of this member and the nip of top roll boss 23, and is held from lateral digression by the upturned end of member 27 and the proximate face of part 25.

The bottom apron 33 encircles the boss of bottom roll 35 and also the two legs of the lower guiding and tensioning member 29, whereby the top run of this apron is held in contact with and parallel to the bottom run of the top apron 31, by the nip of the bottom roll and the upper leg of member 29. It is likewise held from lateral digression by the downturned end of member 29 and the proximate part 25. Thus the lower leg of member 27 and the upper leg of member 29 define and locate the delivery ends of terminal nip of the aprons. The other two legs of members 27 and 29 have little or no guiding effects on the aprons.

The tension of the bottom apron 33 is set initially at any desired degree by the extension of the saddle member 1 to the required extent, through loosening screw 7 and moving the part 3 of the saddle member 1 forward with respect to its portion 5 until the bottom apron 33 is tight, and retightening screw 7 thereafter. Obviously, the same operation of shifting forward the top roll and the apron guiding elements carried thereby, with respect to the bottom roll, is followed to retighten any bottom aprons that may slacken through extended use.

Asis well known, the reeving of the aprons around the stationary surfaces of the tensors hitherto used to hold the aprons extended frontwardly and to define the terminal nip of the aprons has been a main source of wear and eventual failure of the aprons. Flexing of the aprons in a bend of so short a radius at the tensors has resulted in destructive fatigue of the apron material, and the frictional drag of the aprons on these stationary bars has additionally abraded and heated the aprons while adding to the effort and resulting strain in driving them. To remedy this drawback, the two legs of the guides 27, 29 which define the terminal nip of the aprons are each provided with a roller 30 rotating freely thereon and shielding the aprons completely from contact with these legs. Thus each apron travels around a surface moving with the apron at both ends of its runs at the same speed as its interior surface- Hence the apron makes no contact with relatively moving surfaces at either the inward or outward face of the apron. The saving in wear and tear and in extended apron life is obvious.

Preferably, the rotating rollers 30 will be made of nylon, for the sake of its low coeflicient of friction and endurance of wear.

These rollers further serve as an easy means of adjusting the grip or closeness of approach of the two aprons to each other at the terminal nip, to suit the requirements of the particular spinning frame. This setting is critical, varying from 3 mm, as measured between the front-end guide bars, in some frames, to 5 mm. or more in other frames, and hitherto has involved precise machine work as well as errors and rejections in the making of the side plates and applied tensors of prior cradles; Herein, however, it is simply a matter of selecting nylon tubing of the proper outside diameter and wall thickness to go on the legs of the guides 27, 29, to attain the desired spacing of the aprons at the terminal nip. The legs which bear the rollers are uniformly spaced apart on the parts 25 a standard distance exceeding any requirement to be met in actual practice, installing rollers 30 of the proper diameter and wall thickness as needed to give the desired spacing apart of the aprons which run around them. The resulting economy in manufacture is reflected in the cost of making the improved device.

Adjustment of the elevation of the terminal nip of the aprons to feed the strand passing between the aprons into the nip of the top and bottom front rolls 37, 39 is attained by affixing a tang 41 to the sleeve 19 at midlength thereof, as by welding, brazing or silver-soldering, and fitting a captive screw 43 loosely through a hole or slot in the bottom end thereof. This screw is threaded into a narrow bracket 45 fixed to the under side of part 5 of the saddle member 1 by screw 7. By turning screw 43 in or out, tang 41 is moved back or forth to rotate sleeve 19 about its axis and in the notches 17. This angular shift of sleeve 19 causes a corresponding displacement of the parts 25 and members 27, 29, thus raising or lowering the terminal nip of the aprons to the desired extent, the screw thereafter maintaining the elements in such adjusted relation. These parts 41, 43, 45 hold the sleeve 19 in operatively fixed relation in notches 17 of the saddle. member, and enable the entire structure of Fig. l to be handled as a. unit.

Incidentally, screw 7 also holds. fulcrum roller 45 and its bracket 47 in place on part 3 to receive from the overlying front top roll saddle member (not shown) the necessary pressure to weight the middle and back top rolls. This front-roll holder is likewise of inverted U-shape and fits over the parts 3,, 5, and 9, being hooked over the auxiliary back-bar in similar manner to the part 9, all as set forth in my patent aforesaid.

The entire structure of Fig. 1 is easily removed from the spinning frame as a unit. To do so, the front roll saddle member just referred to is unweighted and lifted off with the front top roll in place therein. Then the yoke 9 is lifted off of the auxiliary back-bar, the whole unit pivoting about the nip of the two middle rolls 23, 35. This slaekens the two lower aprons 33, which are then slid away from each other and off from the members 29. The whole unit is then free to be lifted out of the frame for cleaning or repair.

The space within the aprons unoccupied by the bosses is almost wholly open at both sides. This gives full access thereto of air-currents propelled by the traveling pneumatic clearers customarily employed, and thus prevents the accumulation of troublesome amounts of lint and fly within the aprons. Under severe linting conditions, manual picking of lint is easily effected by reaching in from either side of the apron with a picking implement While the parts are all in working position. When the unit of Fig. 1 is lifted off, the top aprons are easily removed by sliding them off from their bosses and then off over the bends of the guides 27.

The aprons, it will be noted, are much narrower than heretofore used. This is made possible by the improved guiding action of the novel device. Since improvement in the composition of cots and aprons has lessened or eliminated grooving and consequent need for traverse of the strand, the narrower aprons can be used herein with corresponding economy in the first cost and replacement cost thereof. They aiford less area for the accu! mulation of lint, and are more completely cleared by the air currents of the blower. Corresponding economy is had in the cost of the top rolls used in frames equipped with the improved apron guide, since such rolls have shorter bosses and cots with narrower treads and hence cost less to purchase and maintain. This cannot be done with prior type cradles without using special bottom rolls with short bosses, because of destructive engagement of the bottom roll flutes with the side plates of the cradles.

The elimination of all side-plate structure or equivalent at the outer ends of the top apron roll, as shown in Fig. 2, makes possible the threading of the strand through the aprons by the superior sidewise piecing method noted at the outset hereof.

While I have illustrated and described certain forms in which the invention may be embodied, I am aware that many modifications may be made therein by any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular forms shown, or to the details of construction thereof, but what I do claim is:

1. In a spinning frame having a plurality of pairs of drawing rolls, in combination, a top drawing roll having rotating parts and a bearing, guiding and positioning means for the top roll holding the bearing, an apron around the roll, and apron guiding and tensioning means mounted on and supported by the bearing alone.

2. In a spinning frame having a plurality of pairs of drawing rolls, in combination, a top drawing roll, guiding and positioning means for the top roll, an apron around the roll, and apron guiding and tensioning means mounted on and supported by the top roll alone.

3. In a spinning frame having a plurality of pairs of drawing rolls, in combination, a top drawing roll having rotating parts and a stationary element, guiding and positioning means for the top roll, an apron around the roll, and apron guiding and tensioning means fixed on such stationary element of the top roll.

4. In a spinning frame having a plurality of pairs of drawing rolls, in combination, a top drawing roll, guiding and positioning means for the top roll, an apron around such top roll and a second apron around the bottom roll paired with such top roll, and apron guiding and tensioning means mounted on and supported by the top roll alone.

5. In a spinning frame having a plurality of pairs of drawing rolls, in combination, guiding and positioning means for the top drawing rolls, one of the latter having a sleeve and a shaft rotatable within such sleeve, means in connection with the guiding and positioning means holding the sleeve in operatively fixed relation to the latter, aprons on this top roll and its cooperating bottom 6 roll, and means guiding the aprons and fixed on the sleeve.

6. In a spinning frame, in combination, pairs of dra ing rolls, guiding, positioning and weighting means for the top rolls of such pairs, aprons around the rolls, elements guiding and tensioning the aprons and operatively fixed on such means, and a top roll rotatably mounted in such elements. I

7. In a spinning frame, in combination, pairs of drawing rolls, guiding, positioning and weighting means for the top rolls of such pairs, aprons around the rolls, and elements guiding and tensioning the aprons and operatively fixed on such means with capacity for angular adjustment thereto. a

8. In a spinning frame, in combination, pairs of drawing rolls, guiding, positioning and weighting means for the top rolls of such pairs, aprons around the rolls, elements guiding and tensioning the aprons and operatively fixed on such means, and screw means varying the angular relation between the apron guiding and tensioning elements and the weighting means.

9. In a spinning frame, in combination, a top roll comprising two bosses and a shaft on which such bosses are fixed, a bearing in which such shaft is rotatably mounted, aprons around the bosses, top roll weighting means in operatively fixed relation to such bearing, and apron guiding and tensioning means in connection with the said bearing. V p

10. In a spinm'ng frame, in combination, atop roll comprising two bosses and a shaft on which such bosses are fixed, a bearing in which such shaft is rotatably mounted, aprons around the bosses, top roll weighting means in operatively fixed relation to such bearing, members fixed on such bearing between the bosses, and apron guides on such members extending axially of the top roll beyond the bosses.

comprising two bosses and a shaft on which such bosses are fixed, a bearing in which such shaft is rotatably mounted, aprons around the bosses, top roll weighting means in operatively fixed relation to such bearing, members fixed on such bearing between the bosses, and U- shaped apron guides having their legs fixed in such members and extending axially of the top roll beyond the bosses.

12. The combination according to claim 11, in which the curved portion of each guide is bent out of the common plane of the legs thereof.

13. In a spinning frame, in combination, pairs of drawing rolls, guiding, positioning and weighting means therefor, aprons extending around the rolls, and apron tensioning devices positioned solely by such means and defining the working and idle runs of the aprons and having apron-engaging surfaces moving with the aprons.

14. In a spinning frame, in combination, pairs of drawing rolls, guiding, positioning and weighting means therefor, an apron, and apron guiding and tensioning devices including a roll boss and a roller within the apron, both positioned solely by such means.

15. In a spinning frame, in combination, pairs of drawing rolls, guiding, positioning and weighting means therefor, an apron, and elements operatively fixed on and positioned solely by such means and having a roller and a top roll rotatably mounted therein which cooperate to guide and tension the apron.

16. A guide for the aprons of paired drawing rolls having in combination members encircling the neck of a drawing roll, means on such members extending parallel to the rolls axis, and a roller rotatably mounted on such means, guiding the apron and holding it under tension.

17. In a spinning frame having a plurality of pairs of drawing rolls, in combination, a top drawing roll, guiding and positioning means for the top roll, an apron, and apron guiding means permitting application and removal 7 of the apron to and from the top roll while the guiding means remain in operative relation.

18. In a spinning frame having a plurality of pairs of drawing rolls, in combination, a top drawing roll, guiding and positioning means for the top roll, an apron, and apron guiding and tensioning means of skeleton form which leave the space between the runs of the apron open at each of its sides for access of cleaning means thereto.

19. A spinning frame having in combination a plurality of pairs of top and bottom drawing rolls, aprons around a top and bottom roll respectively of one such pair, and apron guiding and tensioning means for both aprons having capacity for adjustment toward and from the said bottom roll.

20. A spinning frame having in combination a plurality of pairs of top and bottom drawing rolls, aprons around a top and bottom roll respectively, a saddle mernber extensible to shift the said top roll forwardly with respect to the said bottom roll, and apron guiding and tensioning means for both aprons carried by the saddle member and shifted away from the bottom roll and tightening the bottom apron when the saddle member is extended.

21. In a spinning frame, in combination, top and bottom drawing rolls, guiding, positioning and weighting means for the top rolls holding a top roll by its neck alone, aprons around the top roll and its cooperating bottom roll respectively, and guiding and tensioning means for the bottom roll apron on the roll guiding, positioning and weighting means.

22. In a spinning frame, in combination, top and bottom drawing rolls, guiding, positioning and weighting means for the top rolls holding a top roll by its neck alone, aprons around the top roll and its cooperating bottom roll respectively, and guiding and tensioning means for the bottom r011 apron supported and held in place solely by its connection with the roll guiding, positioning and weighting means.

23. In a spinning frame, in combination, top and hotmeans for the top rolls holding a top roll by its neck alone, aprons around the top roll and its cooperating bottom roll respectively, a member mounted on such guiding, positioning and weighting means in operatively fixed relation and extending laterally therefrom, and guiding and tensioning means for the bottom roll apron on the said member.

24. In a spinning frame having fixed parts and a plurality of pairs of drawing rolls rotatably mounted therein, in combination, a top drawing roll, means engaging the fixed parts and guiding, positioning and weighting the top drawing roll by engagement with its neck alone, an apron on the top drawing roll, and apron-guiding devices mounted on such means and positioned solely thereby.

25. In a spinning frame having a plurality of pairs of drawing rolls rotatably mounted therein, in combination, a top drawing roll, an apron thereon, means guiding, positioning and weighting the top drawing roll by engagement with its neck alone, and apron-guiding devices mounted on such means and positioned solely thereby, such devices including apron-tensioning means which draw the apron tight around the roll and have spaced members engaging the edges of the apron and restraining the apron from lateral digression.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,092,631 Casablancas Apr. 7, 1914 1,481,689 Casablancas Jan. 22, 1924 1,914,603 Jessen June 20, 1933 2,025,394 Langen Dec. 24, 1935 2,675,585 Naegeli Apr. 20, 1954 2,789,320 Dausch Apr. 23, 1957 2,853,743 Starnes Sept. 30, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,372 Great Britain of 1914 745,615 Great Britain Feb. 29, 1956 

